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The Weather Seems To Know That England Are Out As Well

Mike Wood

Last updated 12:43 PM, Thursday July 12 2018 GMT+1

It's been a summer to remember, regardless of what happened last night.

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Basically none of us can remember an England team like this one - you'd have to be in your forties to have been of pub age in 1990 - and not many can remember the national mood being quite what it is today.

For the first time in a long time, we're proud of the England team, even though they lost. There is no pariah, no effigies are being burned, no Pizza Hut adverts joking about penalty misses. There is sadness, but sadness with pride and hope too.

Naturally, England has reacted to this defeat in the only way that it knows how.

Not English people mind - to date there has been little of the patio furniture throwing competitions and mass calls to rip it up and start again that usually accompany tournament exits - but England itself. The geographic body, I mean.

That's right: the World Cup is over, for England at least, and that has heralded the end of the heatwave that had us believing that we were a proper country like Italy or Spain rather than a husk of a nation held together by a mutual love of throwing things and sunburn.

Thunderstorms and wet weather are about to return to our shores with the south-west of England and Wales set to be worst hit.

"You can get a lot of rain in a short time. You can get flooding issues with people driving on roads facing large puddles," said Martin Bowles, a meteorologist with the Met Office.

"It is a 'be prepared' warning so it is not expected to cause problems but people need to be aware of it."

A weather warning has been put in place that reads: "Heavy showers, which will most likely become thundery in places, are expected to develop quite widely across parts of England and Wales later Friday morning and through the afternoon."

"Some of the showers are likely to become focused into slow-moving bands, particularly over south-west England, with some locations receiving around 20mm in an hour."

It's not all over for everyone, however: "As is the nature of showers, however, many places within the warning area will miss them altogether, and have a dry day," said Bowles.

That's it then: pour out the Dark Fruits, stop stockpiling halloumi, forget about humming 'Three Lions' on your way to work.

It's back to porridge and club football: the Premier League starts up again in just under a month.

Mike Wood

Mike Meehall Wood is a freelance journalist and translator. He writes for LADbible, VICE and countless sports publications, focusing on rugby league, football and boxing. He is a graduate of Leeds University and maintains a fizzy pop obsession. Contact Mike at [email protected]